Dynamical heat engines with non--Markovian reservoirs

Abstract

We discuss whether, and under which conditions, it is possible to realize a heat engine simply by dynamically modulating the couplings between the quantum working medium and thermal reservoirs. For that purpose, we consider the paradigmatic model of a quantum harmonic oscillator, exposed to a minimal modulation, that is, a monochromatic driving of the coupling to only one of the thermal baths. We demonstrate, at any order in the system/bath coupling strength, that in this setup non--Markovianity of the bath is a necessary condition to obtain a heat engine. In addition, we identify suitable structured environments for the engine to approach the ideal Carnot efficiency. Our results open up new possibilities for the use of non--Markovian open quantum systems for the construction and optimization of quantum thermal machines.

Final revision as published on Physical Review Research: 19 pages, 7 color figures

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Cited by in corpus (17)

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• Dynamical blockade of a reservoir for optimal performances of a quantum battery
• Hybrid quantum thermal machines with dynamical couplings
• Finite-time Landauer principle beyond weak coupling
• Switching the function of the quantum Otto cycle in non-Markovian dynamics: heat engine, heater and heat pump
• Dissipation-induced collective advantage of a quantum thermal machine
• Analytically Solvable Model for Qubit-Mediated Energy Transfer between Quantum Batteries
• Model-free optimization of power/efficiency tradeoffs in quantum thermal machines using reinforcement learning
• Synchronization-induced violation of thermodynamic uncertainty relations
• Generalized Quantum Fluctuation Theorem for Energy Exchange
• Pseudomode treatment of strong-coupling quantum thermodynamics
• Efficiency and thermodynamic uncertainty relations of a dynamical quantum heat engine
• Heat-based circuits using quantum rectification
• Quantum transport phenomena induced by time-dependent fields
• Transient effects in quantum refrigerators with finite environments
• Cooling and work extraction under memory-assisted Markovian thermal processes
• Coupling-energy driven pumping through quantum dots: Role of coherences